Properly defining and using Bible terms and concepts
is a key to the proper interpretation and understanding
of the Word of God. You take a simple word like
grace, for example. That is a word that has a
certain biblical definition, but in many circles
these days, has acquired a new and different
and unbiblical definition because it is said
to be something that we earn through doing certain
things. And by earning grace, we therefore are
made more acceptable to God. But when you put
the word grace and earn in the same sentence,
you've nullified the biblical meaning of grace.
Because grace is not something we earn. It's
something we are given freely. by God. The same
would be true regarding the word hell or Hades.
Unless one understands the difference between
those two, you may be confused in how he interprets
and understands the Bible. Or take, for example,
the phrases the day of Christ and the day of
the Lord. If one understands them to be exactly
the same thing, he will be led to some confusion
in his interpretation of Bible prophecy. The
same idea is true regarding the terms in the
sermon title this morning, the church and the
kingdom of God. We must understand that they
are not precisely the same thing, though they
are related. Last week we talked about the church
as being the mystery of the ages. The church
is an elect body of people chosen before the
foundation of the world who are being called
out by the Holy Spirit during this age. The church
is composed of Jews and Gentiles alike who are
given the privilege of being united with deity.
and who have the purpose of reigning with Christ
in His eternal kingdom. It's a brief summary
of last week. That's the church. What is the
kingdom of God? Well, we see the term that I'm
using here, actually the kingdom of heaven, in
Matthew chapter 13, which will provide the basis
for the message this morning. And what I'm going
to do is read a few verses in Matthew 13 to sort
of set the tone. On that day, Jesus went out
of the house and was sitting by the sea. And
great multitudes gathered to him so that he got
into a boat and sat down. And the whole multitude
was standing on the beach, and he spoke many
things to them in parables. Jesus used parables,
particularly at certain points in his ministry,
because it was his desire to conceal the truth
from some and to reveal the truth to others.
Now, to understand why, you would need to read
this whole chapter. There were those who were
predisposed because of their rejection of him.
to reject the truth and to disbelieve it, and
therefore he spoke in parables to conceal the
truth from them. Then there were those who would
believe, and he spoke in parables that they may
understand what he was saying. One of the parables
is recorded. Behold, the sower went out to sow,
and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road,
and the birds came and ate them up, and others
fell. He who has ears. Let them hear. Jesus wasn't
talking about these two little things on the
side of our heads that flop around in the wind.
He was talking about spiritual ears. He who has
ears to hear these words that I'm saying, let
him hear them. And the disciples came to him
and said, why do you speak to them in parables?
And he answered and said to them, to you it has
been granted to know the mysteries. of the kingdom
of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
And he goes on then to explain why, and I've
already touched on that in brief. You will notice
that Jesus uses here this phrase, the kingdom
of heaven. Literally, it is the kingdom of the
heavens, plural. It is a phrase that is used
some 32 times in the book of Matthew. The kingdom
of heaven is similar to, but not identical to,
the kingdom of God, a phrase used only five times
in the book of Matthew. The kingdom of God seems
to be a broader term, which refers to the rule
of God over all of His creation, the totality
of the universe, including the angelic realm.
That is the kingdom of God in its broadest sense.
Within that, there is what is referred to as
the kingdom of heaven, which may be defined as
God's rule over the earth at any given period.
So you see, the kingdom of heaven has to do with
the rule of God upon the earth. It doesn't go
beyond that. It's the earth that's in focus.
The form of God's rule in this kingdom changes
somewhat. For example, it was originally expressed
through Adam and Eve, and through them His kingdom
was to be carried out upon the earth, His rule,
His authority. But Adam and Eve sinned and lost
that. Old Testament Israel was an expression
of this rule of God upon the earth. But again,
Israel, because of disobedience, idolatry, and
spiritual adultery, lost out of the kingdom of
God, at least at that time. In Jesus' day, the
kingdom was proclaimed anew and in a consummating
sense. I would have you turn back in Matthew
to chapters 3, verses 1 and 2, where we are introduced
to this enigmatic figure in the wilderness by
the name of John. He is called John the Baptist,
undoubtedly because he was the originator of
the Baptist denomination, don't you think? I
would like to elaborate on that, but I'm going
to censor myself. But in those days, John the
Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of
Judea and saying, and notice here is what he
is saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. There's something urgent about this.
He says the kingdom is at hand. It's present.
And what he's referring to was that the king,
I mean the king, capital K, was present. He was
here. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. If you'll
turn over a page or two in your Bible to chapter
4, verse 17, you'll notice that as soon as Jesus
was baptized, he began to preach. And what did
he say? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. You see, he picked up on the same theme
that John had been proclaiming out there in the
wilderness. The kingdom of heaven is here at
hand. Why? Because he, the king, was present.
Turn to chapter 10. We find in these early verses
of the chapter a record of Jesus calling and
sending out his disciples. And in verse 7, he
says to them, And as you go, preach, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so there
is something urgent about this. The kingdom of
heaven, God's rule upon the earth, was being
offered in the person of the king who was there.
But of course, we know the story, and that is
that Israel refused and rejected the king. And
therefore, the kingdom was not established in
its visible form in that day. As we come to chapter
13 of Matthew, we see very clearly already, if
we read the book, that that is what is going
to happen. The king is going to be rejected by
the nation. So that when we come to chapter 13,
we have a series of parables that Jesus teaches.
And you will find that several times through
this chapter, he will say the kingdom of heaven
is like, or the kingdom of heaven can be compared
to. And so now he is going to say something about
the kingdom of heaven as it will be expressed
after his rejection. It will not be the kingdom
that the Jews had anticipated, but it will take
another form. A mystery form. A form that had
not been revealed to this point. It was going
to be expressed in a way that the Old Testament
prophets never foresaw. God was going to do something
he had kept hidden up to this time. He was going
to establish the mystery form of the kingdom.
Now the age in which we live. which we sometimes
refer to as the age of the church or the age
of grace, is the time when this mystery form
of the kingdom is present in the world. Now,
the church is a part of this kingdom of heaven,
but it's not identical to it. The kingdom of
heaven is broader than that. In fact, we can
say perhaps that the kingdom of heaven... is
essentially equivalent to Christendom. It is
that realm where some sort of allegiance is given
to Jesus and to the Bible, but not necessarily
a saving allegiance or faith. So the true church
is a part of it, but the concept is much broader
than that. It includes those who profess to follow
Jesus Christ. but who in fact practice and preach
much that is contrary to what Jesus said. We're
going to look at these parables today briefly,
without looking at them in depth, just to get
an understanding of what the church is all about
during this age and how it relates to what is
called the kingdom of heaven, which we might
call Christendom. There are at least three insights
that we can gain from a study of the seven or
eight parables in Matthew 13. Let's talk about
them. Insight number one as to what this age
is going to be like, this time when the kingdom
of heaven is expressed in its mystery form. Insight
number one is that it's going to be a time of
limited reception of the Word. Now, we see that
in the parable that we've already read in verses
3 through 9. We do not have to wonder as to the
meaning of it, for Jesus himself interprets the
parable, beginning in verse 18. To his disciples,
he says, hear then the parable of the sword.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and
does not understand it, the evil one comes and
snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
This is the one on whom seed was sown beside
the road. And the one on whom seed was sown in
the rocky places, this is the man who hears the
word and immediately receives it with joy, yet
he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary.
And when affliction or persecution arises because
of the word, immediately he falls away. And the
one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this
is the man who hears the word, and the worry
of the world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And
the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,
this is the man who hears the word and understands
it, who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some
a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. And
so we learn regarding this parable of the sower,
as Jesus calls it, that the sower is Christ.
Now we see that from verse 37, when in the same
context, at the same time, although a different
parable, he himself identifies himself as the
sower. He is the sower, and he sows the seed
which is identified as the word of the kingdom,
or we may say the word of God. The seed falls
upon different kinds of soil which represent
different kinds of hearts and responses, therefore,
to the word of God. There is seed which falls
beside the road where the birds eat it. Jesus
says that this represents the one who hears.
And notice each time the people hear the word.
This one hears, but he does not understand it.
Now, to really get the point of that, you need
to go back and look at verses 13 through 15 of
this chapter, and you'll see that he's talking
basically about the nation of Israel. They heard
it, but they didn't understand it. Therefore,
Jesus says, the devil comes and steals it. And
so he says these birds represent the devil. They
must have been blackbirds, huh? Then there was
seed that was sown on rocky places where there
was thin soil and the sun came out and scorched
it. The seeds withered. There was no fruit at
all. Jesus said that this represents the one
who hears and who immediately then receives with
joy what he hears, but it's only superficial.
His response is not even that deep. And so when...
Trouble comes, he falls away. One who's genuinely
receiving the word would only find that affliction
and persecution to serve to deepen him in the
word. But here's one who just superficially got
it. This is like that shooting star Christian.
Here today, gone tomorrow. Bright testimony while
it lasts, and then poof. When was the last time
you heard of him? I don't remember when I saw
him the last time. But he was so zealous. Well,
here he is. Trouble came, and he fell away. You
see, there is a faith which does not save. It
is the kind of faith that is spoken about in
John chapter 2, verses 23 to 25. It's the kind
of faith that is superficial, intellectual faith,
but is not a... life -changing personal faith
in Jesus Christ. Then there is the soil that
contains thorns. When the seed was sown upon
the thorny soil, it grew all right, but some
problems came up. I mean, literally. The thorns
began to choke it, and it died. And so here's
one who hears the word, says Jesus, but when
the worry of the world comes and the deceitfulness
of riches arise, these choke the word so that
nothing happens. It doesn't bear fruit. But then
he says there is some seed that lands upon good
soil and it yields a crop. So here's one who
hears and who understands. And as a result of
that, there is fruit in his life. And my friend,
that is the assurance that one is saved. It is
not that he prayed a prayer or went forward into
service or was baptized or was a member of a
church. But the proof that one is genuinely saved
is the fruit in his life. Now there are some
who bear a lot of fruit, a hundredfold. There
are some who bear less and others who bear still
less than that. I don't know that we can insist
on the ratios that are talked about here, but
you will notice that the fruitfulness varies
so that really only one -twelfth of the seed
produced a full crop. Not exactly what a farmer
would be excited about. What does this parable
teach us? It is that during this age, when the
mystery form of the kingdom is in the world,
There will only be a very limited reception of
the Word of God. You know, with all of the sowing
of the seed of the Word of God that there is
today, you would think that a lot more would
be happening than is happening. I mean, with
all of the Bible -teaching churches, with all
of the evangelistic crusades, and the Christian
programming on radio. and Christian television.
You would think that there would be an awful
lot of fruit around, but that isn't the case.
It is true that there's a great working of God
in various countries and continents, and yet
it's not at all keeping pace with the population
growth. And where there are these great movements,
it's exceptional. It's not the rule. Indeed,
in countries like our own where the gospel has
been preached for hundreds of years, there is
a real turnoff to it. You say, oh, but I hear
all kinds of things happening. I even hear that
fundamentalists have taken over the Republican
Party in Minnesota. Have you heard that recently?
Well, my friend, to whatever extent that may
be true, and frankly, I think it's... an attempt
at somebody's making for a smear campaign. But
that's beside the point for this morning. Whatever
is happening now, there's liable to be a pendulum
come back the other direction in another year
or two or four. By and large, our nation is not
receiving the Word of God. Some of us were talking
yesterday and... Perhaps we're at the point where
we must say that our nation is not even in a
post -Christian era, but rather in a pre -Christian
era. So that we've come full cycle, and now when
we go out to talk to people about Jesus Christ,
we must assume they are ignorant and know nothing
about the Bible. What we are told here is that
during this age, there will not be many people
who will actually receive the word in comparison
to those who hear it. Now this teaching and this
parable devastates what has in recent years become
an unpopular position regarding the millennium.
It's called the post -millennial position. Those
who adhere to that teaching... believed that
the earth was going to be gradually evangelized
and things would get better and better and better.
And finally, when everything had gotten perfect,
Jesus would come and that would be it. That was
very popular around the turn of the century.
And then there was a little war that took place
in the early 1900s that just devastated it. And
now we see continually increasing wars and increasing
rejection of the Word of God. In fact, if the
Bible teaches anything, I think it teaches that
during the closing days of this age, there will
be increasing hostility to the Word of God, not
an openness to it. This is going to be a time
of limited reception regarding the Word. That's
one insight. So don't be surprised when you go
out and you pass out tracts to everybody at work
that you get fired. You may have done it in the
wrong way. Maybe you didn't. Don't be surprised
when your family does not all greet you at the
family reunion when you come in with your big
Bible under your arm. Because you see, during
this age, the reception to the Word of God is
very limited. Very limited. A second insight
that we gain from these parables is that it's
going to be a time of coexistence between good
and evil. We see that in the parable of the wheat
and tares, the parable of the mustard seed, and
the parable of the leaven. Now we should at least
read what the parable of the wheat and tares
says. It begins in verse 24 where Jesus says,
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man
who sowed good seed in his field. While men were
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also
among the wheat and went away. But when the wheat
sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became
evident also. And the slaves of the landowner
came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good
seed in your field? How then does it have tares?
He said to them, An enemy has done this. And
the slaves said to him, Do you want us then to
go and gather them up? And he said, No, lest
while you're gathering up the tares, you may
root up the wheat. Now, the interpretation of
that is given in verses 36 through 43. Basically,
Jesus gives us seven things that we can look
at in that parable. He says, the sower is me.
That's what Jesus says. And he says the field
is the world. He says the good seed is the sons
of the kingdom. The tares are the sons of the
devil. The enemy is the devil. The harvest is
the end of the age, and those who reap are the
angels. Now, what are the principles that we
see here? Well, we see that... Good and evil
are together in the world of Christendom, in
this kingdom of heaven, in its mystery form.
And just as there are those who are genuinely
the children of God in Christendom, so there
are those that Satan plants, who are children
of his. Satan is a master counterfeiter. He loves
to imitate, and so he places imitation, counterfeit
Christians, so -called, in the realm of Christendom.
We also learn from this parable that the genuine
and the counterfeit are allowed to remain together
until the end of the age, until Christ comes
back, is the thought. They will be together until
the end of the age. Now, there are some who try
to extract from that a teaching that says that
there should not be practiced church discipline.
Jesus is not talking here about the local church.
He's talking about Christendom. There is to be
church discipline within a local church, and
that's another subject. But he is saying that
in Christendom, this broad umbrella where there
is... some kind of allegiance to Jesus and to
the Bible, where people hear something of the
Word, then in this realm there are those who
are true, those who are saved, a part of the
church. There are those who are not saved, but
who are good imitations of the real thing. Indeed,
they're hard to tell apart, says our Lord. But
finally... He says, in the judgment, the good
and the evil will be separated, and each will
be appropriately rewarded. So when you turn on
your tube and you see somebody coming over the
airwaves who's preaching something in the name
of Jesus Christ that is false, don't just get
angry. Turn the thing off. No. Don't just get
angry. realize that even though the average person
in the world is not able to see the difference,
that ultimately God is going to tell the difference
between that one who is false and those who are
true. It's not always going to be so that the
good and the evil will be together. We see a
similar teaching in what is said about the mustard
seed. Verses 31 and 32. The kingdom of heaven
is like a mustard seed, which a man took and
sowed in his field. And this is smaller than
all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it
is larger than the garden plants and becomes
a tree so that the birds of the air come and
nest in its branches. And there our Lord seems
to be quoting from the Old Testament. So if the
first parable that we've looked at in this section,
that is the parable of the wheat and the tares,
talks about false Christians in this age, what
does this parable teach us? It teaches us about
false growth. False growth. There are those who
say this represents the growth of the church.
That is not the case. What Jesus is saying here
is that this kingdom of heaven, this Christendom,
Although it had a seemingly insignificant beginning,
and it did with him, 12 apostles, that it grew.
In fact, the way that he says it here seems to
indicate that what it grew to be was out of proportion.
And it became almost a monstrosity, a tree. And
he says it became a refuge for the birds. What
does that mean? Well, if you look at another
parable, the first one that we looked at in the
chapter, find the birds represent what? The devil.
Represent evil. And so what our Lord seems to
be saying here, that Christendom began 2 ,000
years ago from a genuine seed, seemingly insignificant.
But that in the course of the last 2 ,000 years,
there has been a humongous, even monstrous growth
in this thing called Christendom. And so it is
today. Consider the organizational, bureaucratic
growth within denominations. Think of the world
power that Christendom has become so that one
branch of it even now has an ambassador in Washington.
Think of the material wealth, the political power
which Christendom has. This tree of Christendom
has become a haven for evil. For in this tree,
there are those who teach good works, religion,
and that's evil in the sight of God. There are
those who teach that man is his own God, humanism.
That is evil in the sight of God. That's idolatry.
There are those who teach revolution and Marxism
called liberation theology. There are those who
couple together ritual and ceremony with a little
bit of the Word and corrupt the Word. So you
see what Jesus is saying? He's talking about
false growth in Christendom, in this kingdom
of heaven. During this age, what began very small
become very big and be infiltrated with evil.
There will be false growth. Now we see that last
thought underscored in the parable of the leaven
in verse 33. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three pecks of
meal until it was all leavened. There are those
who say, well, that's the gospel, leavening the
whole earth, and it means everybody is eventually
going to have a chance to hear, be saved, and
the kingdom is... No, that's not what it's saying.
Every time that leaven is mentioned in the Bible
symbolically, it symbolizes evil. And what seems
to be indicated here is false doctrine. And so
we have these insights that during this time,
there will be a coexistence between good and
evil. There will be false Christians, false growth,
and false doctrine. In chapter 16, verses 1 through
12, a passage we don't have time to read, Jesus
warns about the leaven of the Pharisees, which
in that context is false doctrine. Over in the
Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 1, he again
warns about the leaven of the Pharisees, but
there he calls it hypocrisy. Now the two of them
go together, don't they? False teaching and false
living belong together. What our Lord is saying
here is that during this age, this kingdom of
heaven, this mystery form, this Christendom in
which we live will be infiltrated by evil doctrine.
It will be corrupted by that which is false.
And ultimately the whole thing will be influenced
by it. And that coincides perfectly with what
we know is going to happen at the very conclusion
of this age when the world church is going to
unite together around the leading of the false
prophet who will point the church toward Antichrist
and say, here is Christ, worship him. And they
will do it. They will do it. And so we have some
understanding of what this age is like. It's
a time when there will be a limited reception
of the word and a time of coexistence between
good and evil, at least until the end of the
age. Now we come to a third insight that we gain
from these parables. It is this, that this age
is characterized as a time of finding that which
is highly valued. This is... seen in the parables
of the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price,
and the dragnet. Indeed, there seem to be three
different peoples who are in view in these three
parables. And again, this coincides with what
we understand of the Word of God. You'll notice
in verse 44 the parable of the hidden treasurer.
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden
in the field which a man found and hid, and from
joy over it he goes and sells all that he has
and buys that field. There are those who say,
well, that's the gospel. A man's going out to
get the gospel. You don't buy the gospel. The
one who does the buying here, who gives all that
he has, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the treasure
that seems to be in view in this parable is specifically
the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel, which
now is as though it were hidden in the field,
which is the world, scattered throughout the
earth. Not even a nation until our own generation.
It is true that Jesus Christ gave himself for
the whole world, as this man gave himself for
the whole field, and yet Jesus Christ gave himself
in a special way for Israel, according to Isaiah
53 .8. And it reminds us that God's purpose is
one day to restore Israel to her place of blessing.
To her place of blessing. Israel is like a treasure
of God, presently as hidden, but someday it will
be restored. What about the pearl of great price?
Verse 45 says, The kingdom of heaven is like
a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding
one pearl of great value, he went and sold all
that he had, notice that again, and bought it.
I believe that the pearl here represents the
church of Jesus Christ. Again, the pearl is not
Jesus Christ, even though we have some very nice
songs written that way. In the context here,
the pearl is that which is purchased, and I believe
it represents the church. There are at least
three parallels I would draw between... the pearl
and the church. Number one, the pearl is a unity.
The pearl, unlike a gem, cannot be cut and divided.
A pearl is one, and so is the church. We are
not Jew and Gentile. We are all one in Christ
Jesus. We are a unity. Furthermore, a pearl is
formed from suffering. foreign body within a
mollusk produces an irritation which causes a
deposition of gradual layers of an iridescent
material, noxious material. And over the process
of time, those gradual layers form the pearl.
And so it is from suffering that the church is
formed. and the suffering of our Lord. And its
growth is gradual. That is the third parallel.
It is a slow growth and hidden from eyes. You
don't watch a pearl being made. It is hidden.
And so it is with the church today. The church
is not seen in its beauty. Its loveliness is
hidden, even from our own eyes. But the fact
is, when it comes time for the church to be revealed
at the rapture, we are going to be taken out
a perfect, spotless bride for the Son of God,
and the beauty of the church will be exposed
at that time. There is only one church, as there
is only one pearl in this parable. Although there
are many local churches, One can be a member
of a local church without being a member of the
church of Jesus Christ. One becomes a part of
the church by repenting of his sin and trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever done
that? Putting your name on a church roll in this
world does not put your name on the Lamb's Book
of Life. That's the roll book for the church.
On the other hand, those who are part of the
church ought also to be a part of a local church,
a local assembly of God's people. But the pearl
here represents the church, the second of the
peoples that God has to do with at the close
of this age. We've talked about Israel and the
church. We come now to the dragnet. In verse
47, it says, The kingdom of heaven is like a
dragnet cast into the sea and gathering fish
of every kind. When it was filled, they drew
it up to the beach, and they sat down and gathered
the good fish in the containers, but the bad
they threw away. So it will be at the end of
the age. The angels will come, says Jesus, will
come forth and take out the wicked from among
the righteous and will cast them into the furnace
of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. I believe that this third parable points
to the third group that God has to do with at
the end of this age, and that is those Gentiles
who will be saved during the tribulation period.
You see at the rapture, every believer in Jesus
Christ is going to be taken out of the world,
but after that, God has already said that there
will be 144 ,000 Jews who will be evangelists,
who will preach throughout the whole earth during
the tribulation period. Not only will Jews be
saved during that time, but Gentiles. In fact,
an innumerable multitude of them is seen in the
book of Revelation. I believe that those saved
Gentiles are the ones pictured here as the good
fish caught in that dragnet. That dragnet is
the gospel preached during the tribulation period,
that time of Christendom, as it comes to its
final end. And while there will be many bad fish
in the net, And they will be judged, according
as he says here, and taken out. The good will
be saved. Not those who've been good, but I mean
the good fish, those who've trusted Jesus Christ
during that period of time, those Gentiles. And
we know from what the Bible says that they will
enter the millennium in their natural bodies
to populate the nations during the kingdom reign
of Jesus Christ. I have said a whole lot here
in a few minutes. And some of you may be saying,
boy, where does all that fit in? Well, we have
a doctrinal class here, and on the eighth week
of that class, we talk about prophecy, and that
would be a time for maybe you to come and attend
so that you can get in on that particular aspect
of the doctrine that we teach here, and we'll
talk about some of these things more in detail.
The lesson that I'm pointing out is that this
time in which we live, this... Time when the
kingdom of heaven is in its mystery form is a
time of finding that which is highly valued.
Do you know that there is nothing more valuable
to God than your soul? Say, how do you know that?
Because he gave all that he had for it. For God
so loved the world, that's you. that he gave
his only begotten Son, so that whosoever would
believe on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Have you ever responded to God's love that
way? God is seeking you out. You say, yes, but
I'm so unworthy. I need to get myself cleaned
up. No, my friend. God is seeking you out. Will
you today respond to let him clean you up? We
let him save you. Right now, his interest is
finding that which is highly valued. You're highly
valued in God's eyes. He gave his son for you.
Will you respond in faith to that and trust him?
Receive Christ? I want to close by just pointing
to one final thing Jesus says here in verses
51 and 52. Some see this as an eighth parable,
and it well may be. Have you understood all these
things? Jesus said to his disciples. They said
to him, yes. I hope they were telling the truth.
Well, he said to them, therefore, every scribe
who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven.
is like a head of a household who brings forth
out of his treasure things new and old. You know
what Jesus is saying to us here by way of application?
He is saying that those of us who understand
the word of God, now go back to parable number
one, that's those who are genuinely saved who
have fruit in their life as evidence of it. That's
those who understand. Those of us who understand
should be in the first place like scribes. Those
who are students of the Word of God. Those who
study the truth as scribes studied the Old Testament
Scriptures in that day. Are you studying the
Word of God? Are you a student of it? Are you
learning the things of God? Secondly, he says
we ought to be like disciples. Not just those
who study the Word, but those who live the Word
in their lives. It's not enough just to know
the facts. We have to live out those facts. We
have to practice the truth. Are you doing that?
Are you living up to what you know? I suppose
not many of us are, really. That certainly should
be our desire and our goal. And thirdly, he says
that we are to be like stewards, those who share
the treasures of the Word. Not just those who
study it and those who then practice it, but
those who are giving. Some things that are old
to people, some things that will be new to them,
but we're to share it. Are you sharing it? We
are not exactly synonymous with the kingdom of
heaven. It's broader than what we are as the
church. But we are a part of that. I trust that
we are a faithful church. You're a faithful scribe,
disciple, and steward of Jesus Christ. Let's
pray. Father, I don't know how this word hits
each of us today, just what need it meets or
what need it may expose. But I pray that you
will use what we've said today to show us truth,
that we might then practice it and share it with
others. We thank you that you have given all
that you have for us because you count us highly
valued. We rejoice that you've made us a part
of the pearl of great price. Father, as those
who are members of the body of Jesus Christ,
who are a part of the church, may we be faithful
to you in this world and in this age in which
you have assigned us to live. May we live so
that when we see you face to face one day in
the future, we can be confident, not have to
be ashamed. In Jesus' name, amen. I'd like for
us to close today by singing number seven.